What makes me proud to be Pinoy? If I were answering a slum notebook or autograph as we used to call it in High School, my answer would be “TMTM” or “too many to mention”.
I was reading a post from one of my favorite blogs, Pinoycentric, I saw this question “What makes you proud to be Pinoy?” And now I am answering not just because I want to win a Moleskin notebook — I soooo love journals and notebooks and I collect them– but because the question has ticked something from me. It challenged me to stop and really look into what I think are my answers at the moment.
What came into my mind are:
- Love for Family – There might be other countries whose love for their families we cannot discount but here in the Philippines, even if the children and grandchildren in some cases are able to fend for themselves financially, they still stay with their olds not to take advantage of any financial gain, but because we cannot just leave them. We’d worry who will take care of them, have they eaten already or are they taking their medicines on time, etc. Other instances would be to take them with us even if we already have our own families. In some cases, there are families where some children sacrifice their own personal ambitions at the moment so that one of them can attend school. This topic alone covers a lot of other facets in how we live as Pinoy families. The success of Filipinos in the hospitality industry even in Nursing takes its roots from this simple concept in the love for family. As a TV network puts it, we just love our “Kapamilya.”
- Pinoys Got Talent – singers, boxers, even bloggers… name it we got it.
- Ability to smile even in the most challenging times – Pinoys can even make jokes out of the weirdest and most difficult situation. We can laugh and make fun of a situation no matter how negative they are. This, I think, we got from the strong religious beliefs that we have, no matter what religion or sect. The common things among those are patiently waiting there is hope, faith in the unseen, and ability to love and share the most of what we have.
There are a lot more. I remember attending a training very recently with an experience trainer from an international reputable training company who has travelled a lot, he said to a certain extent:
“I have travelled to more than 30 countries and the first time I went to Philippines, I said to myself, Filipinos as the friendliest people in the world. And I am very happy to be back here, I keep telling my friends how excited I am to be returning back.”
Simply put, I am proud of the people, the Pinoys. I am proud of what we are capable of. I am proud of how we love life.
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